Pet collars are commonly formed of leather or other flexible material provided at one end with a buckle or similar fastener that allows the collar to be placed around the pet's neck and adjustably secured to fit comfortably on the pet. Most typically, the collar is provided with a D-ring or the like, which is secured transversely to the collar, usually in the vicinity of the buckle, providing means for attaching a leash.
Many pet owners like to adorn the pet's collar with decorations, such as rhinestones, etc., to give the collar a classier appearance. The adornments can be fastened directly to the collar, or in many cases preferably are attached to a slide strip. The slide strip is a narrow length of leather or the like on which adornments may be mounted, either permanently or by a slide-on attachment. The collar is provided with a pair of spaced-apart studs which project outward from the collar and can be received in slotted openings at opposite ends of the slide strip. The slide strip is thus semi-permanently mounted on the collar and allows easy customization of the collar adornments.
One serious drawback with conventional pet collars is that the collar decorations commonly are on the side of the collar generally opposite the buckle, while the leash attachment ring typically is located near to the buckle. Accordingly, when the pet is on a leash, the leash attachment is at the top, while the decorations tend to be underneath the pet's neck, where they cannot be easily seen.
In some pet collars, a special D-ring is attached to the collar opposite the buckle, by being grommeted, riveted, or otherwise secured to the middle of the collar. This enables adornments to be attached to the collar, on either side of the D-ring mount. While this is an improvement over the standard collar, the arrangement does not accommodate the use of a slide strip for mounting of adornments and also becomes an interruption of the continuity of adornments. Such a discontinuity is undesirable where the adornments consist of letters spelling the pet's name, for example.